With the ease of transferring digital multimedia such as songs over the Internet and on storage media, complications have arisen for original sales entities such as music stores, as well as for content providers, in obtaining remuneration for each duplicated piece of copyrighted content. One approach in addressing this problem is through “digital rights management” (DRM), which typically involves various encryption schemes and copy rules that are expected to be implemented in compliant player devices.
As understood herein, implementing DRM is somewhat akin to swimming against the tide, in that it is ultimately possible to defeat almost any encryption scheme, the imposition of DRM frustrates and annoys many consumers, and consumers typically find innovative ways to freely transfer digital content among themselves anyway. Furthermore, DRM can retard sales, whereas it is generally desirable to promote sales. Accordingly, while DRM has its place including as part of some implementations of the present invention, the present invention recognizes that it is desirable to promote sales of content without undue restrictions yet in a way in which all parties, including original sales entities (and, thus, content providers) profit.